Parents on High Alert as Boy Dies Taking Part in Dangerous Online Craze, Depriving Brain of Oxygen

Parents in the United Kingdom have been warned to keep an extra eye on their children after a 12-year-old boy died from a dangerous online game that cuts off oxygen supply to the brain, in order to give a temporal natural euphoria.

The incident happened on June 1 in the city of Birmingham. When the incident happened, it was not immediately clear what killed the boy until the autopsy report was handed over to the family. The cause of his death was later confirmed by his close friends.

It is reported that Karnel Haughton was alone in his bedroom while playing the dangerous game online, known as Choking. According to health experts, even when the game does not kill, it can cause severe brain damage, which could leave victims requiring lifelong care.

Different names have been assigned to the game in different places. Karnel lost consciousness and suffocated in the process. His mother discovered him in the room in a very disturbing state.

She immediately raised an alarm. Karnel was taken to the hospital for treatment, but he passed away within a short time upon reaching the medical facility. Family and friends have paid their tributes to the departed soul.

Family sources revealed that before the tragedy happened, Karnel had been telling his friends about a new game on the Internet he had heard of, called the Choking Game. The game has been around several years, but it seems to have become popular these days.

It involves either putting your hands around your friends’ neck, or tying something around your own neck, to starve the brain of oxygen and pass out, inducing temporary euphoria.

The family source said the family was unaware that Karnel was involved in the dangerous game until after his death; that his friends revealed the secret.

This has convinced Karnel’s friends and parents to launch an online campaign to warn parents of the highly dangerous game, and the need to monitor their children on the Internet.

A family friend wrote: “It was his mum who found him at home. He was apparently playing the ‘choking game’. Karnel was such a witty and happy young boy and really close to his brother and sister. He was a popular lad at school with a lot of friends – he had a good word to say about everyone.”

According to some people who have witnessed the game before, when the players are starving themselves of the oxygen, they film it simultaneously, after which they post the video online for others who are involved in the game to comment. Those involved in the game have a special platform dedicated to only the sharing of videos of the game, but they also share some on popular social media platforms.

Observers say the choking game has existed for many years, but the Internet has allowed it to spread more quickly these days.

According to the Daily Mail, eight children from the United Kingdom have died while playing the game in the past five years. It is also said the United States government has previously estimated that the game kills more than six children a year in the country. A 2006 study on the game in the United States revealed that a fifth of 18-year-olds had tried the choking game before.

Videos of the game are freely shared on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. This has made the game very popular among children in the Western world, due to easy access to the Internet.

Particularly on YouTube, the social media platform officially banned videos of the game sometime ago. But due to moderators not paying special attention to the videos, some still post the clips on the platform, which are available for viewing.